Call For Submissions
Your food memories, food fiction and food poetry wanted
Third Course, a new food-focused publication on Medium developed by yours truly, is now seeking contributions from other writers on Medium! Currently, we’re looking for essays/creative nonfiction on food memories as well as fictional food pieces — including poetry and flash fiction, among other forms of this genre.
Have a favorite family recipe that brings back a flood of nostalgia? We want to hear about it! Can you remember a kitchen mishap that still makes you (or others) laugh out loud? Fill us in on the details! Have an ode to your favorite ingredient brewing in your poetic heart? Please, share it! Whether it’s a retelling of your first self-made meal, an introduction to a regional dish we may not be familiar with, or an essay on your favorite kitchen utensil, we’d love to include it in our publication.
Here’s a few things to get you started, if you’re interested:
- Become a writer for Third Course. If you’d like to submit a piece, please request to be added as a writer in Third Course by either emailing me or commenting on this article to let me know you’d like to be added. If you send me an email, be sure to mention your Medium user name so I know who to add. As soon as I receive your request I’ll add you as a writer in the publication.
- Please submit your essay via Medium. Once you’re added as a writer to Third Course, you can then begin making submissions. Please submit your article as a draft. If you’re unfamiliar with how to add an article to a publication as a draft, please check out this step-by-step guide from Medium.
- The are no length requirements. Your essay, poem, or other piece of fiction or nonfiction can be as long or short as you need it to be. It just has to be focused in some way, shape or form on food.
- Locked stories are welcomed. In fact, I encourage you to lock your piece, as you should be rewarded for the hard work that goes into your writing craft. As the publication grows, I’ll begin sending weekly letters with friend links to those articles published in the previous week. This gives those who are not yet part of Medium’s membership program the opportunity to read your work too.
- You may submit your piece at any time. Third Course will continue to have a rolling deadline, so feel free to submit your piece whenever you like. Depending on the number of submissions, I’ll aim to publish food memories and food fiction on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with additional publication on Saturday/Sunday as needed.
- Feel free to write about any food memory/food fiction subject you like. And in any style you like. Again, it just has to — in some way, shape or form — relate to food. This should go without saying, but I won’t publish anything that’s racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic, etc. If you have to think, “would this be problematic?” it’s probably not a right fit for this publication. If you’re unsure, feel free to just ask me.
- Include a photograph or other artwork related to your writing. Use your own photos/art or find some with a creative commons licence from reputable websites like Unsplash or a similar photo service. Please be sure to credit the photographer/creator. Your submission must include at least one photo or other piece of art, as it’s necessary for listing on the publication homepage.
- Also, please include a short bio. The bio need-not be long, and please do not use a call-to-action within the bio (i.e., “Please clap for my article!”). Feel free to link to your own Medium profile or another repository of your work. Here’s the one I currently use to give you an idea:
Michael Ramsburg is a West Virginia-based writer. His nonfiction work explores food, religion, history, folk-life, personal narrative and more. He is the founder and managing editor of Third Course.
- A note on editing: I won’t edit the content of your work without first asking your permission. I may, however, edit glaring spelling/grammar mistakes, should they be apparent. Also, I may style your article using graphic-based drop caps, text headers, separators and other graphics like those in this article or this one. This will not affect the content of your submission, but may change some of the “look” (i.e., layout) of your piece.
- Tags: Please use Food and Food Memories (plural) for your essays/nonfiction on food memories; use Food and Fiction for your poems/flash fiction/etc. The other three tags are up to you.
- Questions? Feel free to email me or leave a question in the comments.
That’s it for now! I hope you’ll consider becoming a writer, even if you don’t plan to submit at this time. Please don’t forget to follow Third Course, and please share this publication with other friends, writing colleagues and foodies on Medium and beyond!
